


Difusing

by DreamingOf4A



Series: 2019 Euros [2]
Category: Figure Skating RPF
Genre: 2019 European Figure Skating Championships, Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-26
Updated: 2019-01-26
Packaged: 2019-10-17 05:47:43
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,177
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17554547
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DreamingOf4A/pseuds/DreamingOf4A
Summary: Brian manages Yuzu and Javi, like he's been doing for years.





	Difusing

**Author's Note:**

> A sequel somehow happened... I haven't properly read this over, so hopefully it makes sense and doesn't have too many mistakes.
> 
> More importantly, congrats, Javi!!! And thank you for everything! (Though I hope you never see this ^_^; )

_Disclaimer: This story is fiction and does not in any way reflect on the real life people that share their names with these characters. It is also not intended to offend or disrespect and it exists simply because I find it really interesting to imagine how other people - potentially - live their lives._

Standing at the back of the press conference room in Minsk, face-palming at Javi’s brutally honest frustration, Brian felt his phone vibrating in his pocket. He was too worried about what else Javi might say, though, so he ignored it, even as it kept vibrating.

When the press conference was finally over, Brian took a deep breath. The damage was already done and Javi would have to say the same things in the mixed zone anyway, so he took a moment to check his phone.

He felt all the blood drain from his face as he saw Ghislain’s name.

With Tracy at US Nationals, Ghislain had been left babysitting in Toronto. The kids weren’t that bad, though and he could think of only one who would make Ghislain call so insistently.

He found a quiet corner and took a deep breath, but before he could push the button to call Ghislain, the phone started vibrating in his hand, the picture of his old time friend flashing on the screen.

“What’s he done?” Brian asked as the call connected.

Ghislain's slight chuckle was reassuring.

“It’s not that bad. Not as bad as I feared.”

“Oh God. What happened?”

“I’ll send you a video.”

“No, don’t, just tell me!” Brian protested, but Ghislain had already hung up.

His heart pounding he waited for the video, then opened it and watched.

In the video, Yuzuru was power skating around the rink at high speed.

“He’s going to break his damned neck!” Brian muttered as he watched, half expecting Yuzu to get into position for a jump, but it never happened.

“Brian?”

Brian startled but then smiled when he saw Sonia.

“Hey, Sonia!”

“What’s wrong?”

“Oh, Ghislain sent me this…” he said, tilting the phone to show her the video of Yuzu still power skating.”

“Wow…”

The video ended and Brian video-called Ghislain again.

“What brought that about?”

“What do you think? We were all watching Euros. When Javi’s score came up, Yuzu murdered a pencil then marched in here like a man on a mission. A murderous one. So I called right away.”

“Javi’s scores came up an hour ago! Don’t tell me he’s been doing this since then?!”

“No, no. Since then, there’s been another development… it’s still not bad, but I still think you should talk to him. Before he burns down the Cricket Club with his glare alone…”

Sonia chuckled a bit.

“The judges have no idea how lucky they are he’s not here… they did pick on his beloved quad sal…” she pointed out.

Brian glared at her half-heartedly. With Javi callin the judges unfair to their faces, the last thing he needed was Yuzu going for the judges as well.

“So, what’s the new development?” he asked Ghislain.

“Well… let me show you…”

Brian and Sonia watched closely as Ghislain turned his phone around towards the rink. And their jaws dropped.

Yuzuru was leading the entire competitive skaters class into a perfect example of Tracy’s stroking class.

As they watched, Yuzu spun around, broke ranks and studied the others closely, before skating up to them and correcting posture, edges and any other small mistakes, before going back to his spot in front.

He repeated that, even getting handsy with correcting things - if any fans saw the way he straightened Evgenia’s back, there’d be mayhem - and was loudly scolding those who didn’t seem to be taking it seriously. At one point, Brian was sure Yuzu had slipped back to Japanese, but it didn’t matter. He was very strictly turning this into the best quality class ever. There was no mercy for anyone.

As Ghislain turned the camera back around, Brian blinked.

“What the hell is he doing?!”

“Taking over the club?” Sonia suggested, secretly happy she wasn’t there. Yuzu as a coach sounded scary!

“Who knows?” Ghislain said. “So far it’s fairly harmless and might even be good for them. But I think jump practice is next and I fear he’ll kill them all trying to get the perfect sal.”

“Ah, damn. Get him on the phone!”

Ghislain pulled the phone away and turned towards the ice.

“Yuzu! Brian wants to talk to you!”

The phone was tilted in such a way Brian and Sonia could see the glare from hell that was Yuzu’s first reaction. They both shuddered a bit. To date, Brian had met only a handful of people who were immune to Yuzu’s glares. Funnily enough, Ghislain was one of them. To him, Yuzu’s glares were much like a yorkie barking his tiny little head off. Far more adorable and funny than scary.

As Yuzu approached Ghislain, Sonia stepped back.

“I’m going to see Javi now. See you in a bit!” she said, squeezing Brian’s arm.

He smiled in thanks at her giving them privacy.

His attention was drawn back to the video call as the dark figure picked up the phone and mumbled a “Hi.”

“Yuzu, what’s going on there?”

“Nothing. Don’t know why Ghislain call.”

“It looks like you’re taking over my club.”

Yuzu scowled. “Not take over. Just practice. Like you say.”

“I don't remember saying you can do a stroking class without coach supervision or that you can coach the others.”

Yuzu frowned even more fiercely.

“But you always say ‘skating skills’, ‘skating skills’. Why stroking class now bad?”

“Because neither Tracy nor I are there. I’m not saying you don’t have the skills to lead the others, or even to help them. But that is not your job, nor should it be what you should be focusing on.”

“But I want everyone be perfect!”

“Yuzu, nobody is perfect.”

“Almost perfect then. I can help!”

“No. Unless you’re there to do your own rehab and practice for Worlds, I want you to go home.”

Yuzu sputtered in outrage and his eyes were sparkling with frustrated tears. It broke Brian’s heart to push him like this, but sometimes it was necessary, in order to get to the real issue.

“But why?! I can HELP!”

“You’re not helping anyone like this. You’re just scaring them out of their minds! Plus, it’s not your job or your responsibility to help them.”

“But if they not better, then they, too…” Yuzu broke off.

Brian sighed. Bingo.

“Yuzu. What happened with Javi today has nothing to do with you. Or Cricket.”

“But…”

“No buts. If I tell Javi you’re wreaking havoc at Cricket, pushing those kids beyond their limits because of this, do you think he’d be happy?”

Yuzu let his head down, hair covering his face.

“Yuzu, come on, don’t make me do this. You’re smart and wise and you have your plan. Forget everything else and just focus on that, ok?”

Yuzu made a sound that might have been a sob before the image moved erratically as he pushed the phone into Ghislain’s hand and Btian could hear the sound of him running away.

“He ran to the lockers…” Ghislain confirmed.

Brian sighed.

“Thanks. I’ll call him on his own phone.”

“Ok. Good luck!”

“I’ll try to convince him to take the day off. I’ll let you know.”

“Ok.”

Brian disconnected then sighed as he walked away. Javi was done with the mixed zone and Brian followed him to the locker room.

Javi took a look at him, then smiled sheepishly, apparently less angry by now.

“Are you that mad at me for what I said?”

Brian frowned.

“What?”

“You look… not mad, but upset…”

“Ah, that. No, that’s something else. We are going to have a talk about what you said, but not now.”

“Trouble in Toronto?” Javi asked, apparently casually, as he started packing his bag. Brian could hear the hint of worry in his voice, though. Having been back there for three weeks, Javi was apparently reminded of how much he cared about the Cricket kids and the worry that came along with it.

“He is in Toronto, still, yes.” Brian joked and Javi chuckled. “It’s nothing too serious, nothing for you to worry about, but I do have to have a chat with him. So, go on, do your thing and I’ll do that.”

“Ok. Good luck!”

“Thanks, I’ll need it!” Brian chuckled as he stood up and walked out of the locker room. Finding an empty corridor, he sighed and dialed Yuzu’s number. He decided to give the champion some privacy and chose a regular call. It also wasn’t the ideal location for this, but time was of the essence.

Yuzu picked after only a couple of rings.

“Hey. Are you ok?” Brian asked.

“Yes. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. Do you understand what I’m saying, though?”

A sigh.

“Yes.”

“That’s good. Want to tell me what happened, though?”

Another sigh, then a hesitation that Brian knew wasn’t so much reluctance to speak as it was Yuzu trying to find his words.

“I feel frustrate. About Javi score. And… helpless. Because I can do nothing help. I know Brian say not my responsibility, but… want help. If I can, I want help. So, when everyone come on ice… I can help them, like I can’t help Javi.”

“So it’s more so you won’t feel helpless.”

“...yes…”

“You know it doesn’t really work like that, right? You can help motivate and share information, but in the end, everyone is alone on the ice during competition. It’s up to them, entirely. I can help you and Javi and Jason and Jun and Zhenya and so on, but I can’t land your jumps for you, do your steps for you, spin for you. The only thing a coach can do, realistically, is give skaters the tools, teach them how to use them, then hope that everything goes right. As you know, things rarely do. But you’ll never not be helpless as a coach.”

“I know. I probably not good coach.”

“I’m honestly terrified of the thought of you as a coach.” Brian joked and somehow, he knew Yuzu smiled, too. “But it’s even more different with teammates. All you can do is trust the coaches, trust the skaters and support them even if things fall apart.”

“Yeah…”

“You know, Javi’s actually taking this a lot better than you are.”

Yuzu actually laughed a little breathily at that.

“I just want Javi to win again…” Yuzu whispered then, tears in his voice.

“I know. We all do. But you also have to remember that Javi isn’t you. He’ll be fine even if he doesn’t win.”

“But I think he deserve win. At least he deserve second today.”

“There’s still the free. Don’t worry. You should know better than anyone that Javi can win without being first after the short.”

Yuzu was quiet at that. Then:

“Before Javi come back, I think some day I want Javi not win. Because then maybe he not retire until win again.” The champion confessed, softly.

“Oh, Yuzu…”

“But then he come back and I see. Javi really want win. And really want retire after…”

“Yeah, he does…”

“I miss him so much…”

Brian closed his eyes, remembering Yuzu’s expression when he first admitted that.

“You’ll see him again, soon. There’ll be ice shows…”

Yuzu sniffed.

“Yeah…”

“Yuzu, can you do me a favor?”

Another sniff.

“What favor?”

“Go home. Relax. Cry. Mourn properly. Then take a cute selfie and send it to Javi. He’ll be happy for the support, it’ll make you feel better and he won’t worry about you, either. Then tomorrow come back and continue your plan.”

He could hear Yuzu taking in a deep breath, then exhaling shortly. A soft noise against the speaker made Brian think Yuzu was nodding.

“Ok. But Brian?”

“Yes?”

“Give Javi hug from me, please. But don’t tell is from me!”

Brian chuckled. As if Javi wouldn't know.

“Ok, I will. Take care, Yuzu!”

“Bye bye.”

Hanging up, Brian went back and found Javi ready to leave, talking to Sonia and Sara.

“Hey. All good?” Javi asked.

“Yep. Bomb defused.” Brian chuckled. “Oh, right. I have to give you something.”

“A bomb?” Javi said in mock horror.

“No.”

Then Brian stepped close and gave Javi a hug. The skater froze for a moment, then he took in a shaky breath, before smiling.

As they pulled away, Brian smiled, too.

“I can't tell you who that was from.”

“No need to.” Javi grinned.

“Good.” Brian said as they all made their way to the buses and back to the hotel.

The next morning, Javi came to breakfast half-asleep, but grinning. Without a word, he sat down with a cup of coffee and pushed his phone towards Brian.

On the screen was a cute picture of Yuzu with virtual cat ears and the text “Habi, ganbanya!”

It was so cute, Brian had to laugh hard and loud.


End file.
